Is this the end of the Republican Party?

[Bethella]

I saw this video and the accompanying article about the evolution of the republican party the other day and for some reason it resonated with me. Intellectually I've know that there had been other political parties in the past like the Whigs but I guess I never really thought about what it would take to bring down a political party. It seems like the republican party can no longer represent all of its members- if they have a moderate candidate, the tea-partiers get bent out of shape and if they have Trump, the moderates run for the hills and Hillary. Is this election acrimonious enough to bring down the republican party? Could we see it split into two separate political parties? 

http://www.vox.com/2016/7/20/12148750/republican-party-trump-lincoln

[Howl]

People like Evan McMullin might be the hope for the Republican future.  Who knows if someone like this guy will show up out of nowhere to become the new Republican messiah.  

George Stephanopoulos is interviewing Evan McMullin (who declared in August 2016 -- about two months ago) and there is some speculation McMullin could take Utah; at this point he's polling as being almost even with Trump and Clinton -- a true 3-way race.  He's presenting himself as a new conservative, and doing that well, and is denouncing Trump for being a misogynist and racist and talking representation for everyone. Oh, and he's LDS.  Quite the bio on evanmcmullin.com   Whoo.  It kinda reminds me of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension [1984] -- "Buckaroo is a renaissance man, the character is a top neurosurgeon, particle physicist, race cardriver, rock star and comic book hero, and probably the last hope of the human race."  (Wikipedia)

OK, Evan McMulllin isn't quite that awesome, but looks like an interesting life: Mormon missionary, CIA, investment banker, foreign affairs adviser, Republican policy director.  Be curious to see what lies underneath the surface, i.e., what are his real positions (and more importantly, solutions) on key issues.  

Quote

Evan served as a Mormon missionary in Brazil and Volunteer Refugee Resettlement Officer in Amman, Jordan on behalf of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

On September 11th, 2001 Evan was in training at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. He completed his training and repeatedly volunteered for overseas service in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, spearheading counterterrorism and intelligence operations in some of the most dangerous places on earth.

Having completed his CIA service, in 2011, McMullin transitioned to the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he worked with companies in several industries, including technology, energy, consumer goods, biotech, industrials and real estate on capital raising projects and mergers and acquisitions.

In 2013, McMullin joined the House Committee on Foreign Affairs as a senior advisor and later became the chief policy director of the House Republican Conference.

He declared his candidacy for President of the United States on August 8, 2016, saying “In a year where Americans have lost faith in the candidates of both major parties, it’s time for a generation of new leadership to step up. It’s never too late to do the right thing, and America deserves much better than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton can offer us. I humbly offer myself as a leader who can give millions of disaffected Americans a better choice for President.”

The probability that I'd ever vote for a Republican is about zero, so it doesn't interest me directly, but if the Repubs don't do something.....be interesting if there are some upsets in the House or Senate.  

[Bethella]

I hadn't heard of McMullin- he isn't on the ballot here, but he seems more qualified than Trump, regardless of his position on the issues. 

[Howl]

7 hours ago, Bethella said:

I hadn't heard of McMullin- he isn't on the ballot here, but he seems more qualified than Trump, regardless of his position on the issues. 

Yes, he's running as an Independent and according to the StarTribune in Minnesota, McMullin, other third-party presidential candidates also on Minnesota ballot

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 He is on the ballot in Minnesota and 10 other states, and is a registered write-in candidate in 34 more states....

....In Minnesota, McMullin is on the ballot under the heading of the Independence Party, once the political home of former Gov. Jesse Ventura.

“Evan McMullin is a center-right candidate, entirely committed to fiscal restraint and fiscal responsibility, and debt reduction,” said Phil Fuehrer, chairman of the Independence Party. “He’s probably a little more socially conservative than a lot of our members but we are not a litmus test party.”

I'm sure the timing relates to him being vetted for the next election cycle.  If he's viable, and superficially he looks to be viable,  an Independent will be in realistic play for 2020, sending Repubs further into a tailspin. 

OK, here's the link to info on his running mate, Mindy Finn: 

https://www.evanmcmullin.com/about_mindy

She's no slacker either and also looks like an American female Justin Trudeau.

Quote

Mindy Finn was born and raised outside of Houston, Texas where she graduated from Kingwood High School. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Boston University and a Masters in Political Management at George Washington University.

Mindy served most recently as the founder and president of Empowered Women, a bi-partisan organization that gives voice to a bold, new generation of American women in civic life. Throughout her career she has found strength in the belief that America is a nation where all people can make a difference, in their own lives, and the lives of others.

Like so many other Americans, her call to civic service began in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11th. For Mindy, those attacks showed that our ideals are under attack, and we must not take our freedom for granted.

Beginning as a communications and legislative aide on Capitol Hill, Mindy quickly built a career advocating for conservative principles and candidates across the country. She has worked with both President George W. Bush and Mitt Romney to help advance the ideals of liberty and equality that she always believed set the United States apart as a great nation.

I gotta say that (superficially) this is the power team  young conservative millenials have been waiting for.  Interesting times ahead for the Red side of the country. 

[GreyhoundFan]

10 hours ago, Bethella said:

I hadn't heard of McMullin- he isn't on the ballot here, but he seems more qualified than Trump, regardless of his position on the issues. 

To be fair, it would be hard to be less qualified than Trump.

McMullin isn't on the ballot here in VA, but I know at least two extreme right wingers who are writing him in.

[SassyPants]

I think McMullen got in the race to be the spoiler by preventing either candidate from securing the needed EC votes to lock it up. Of course that was when the race was  seemingly tighter and losing UT would have prevented either Clinton or Trump from securing the coveted number of EC votes. Currently, it seems like Trump is fading, so McMullen may be just another third party candidate.

[Bethella]

I checked and McMullin is a write-in here in Michigan. At least he gives me an alternative to mention to the people I know who are virulently anti-Hillary but who aren't total Trump whack-jobs. Any votes that can be taken away from him can help.

[AmazonGrace]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/24/opinion/its-trumps-party.html?_r=0

[Howl]

45 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/24/opinion/its-trumps-party.html?_r=0

I really like Paul Krugman, and his is a chilling indictment for the GOP.   I think it's a true indictment, but chilling because Repubs are getting better and better at being obstruction-ists but seemly have lost the ability to be constructive.  

[smittykins]

"It's Trump's party and we'll cry if we want to..."

[RoseWilder]

I think the Republican party will survive for a few more years because of gerrymandering. I'm already afraid of the 2018 election, when most likely a bunch of total morons will be swept into office thanks to gerrymandering. 

But, if gerrymandering ends (and President Obama said he's going to be working on that cause after his White House time is over) then I think the Republicans will have very little chance of getting elected. A few, who are living in heavily Republican areas, will still squeak by, but not many. 

 

[Howl]

Gerrymandering is rampant in Texas and has given us some true nut cases in the state house and senate.  

[RoseWilder]

After reading this article, I certainly hope this is the end of the Republican party: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/supreme-court-hillary-clinton-nominees_us_580fed9ae4b08582f88cb00c

Quote

Some conservatives certainly seem to be warming up to McCain’s controversial suggestion last week that Senate Republicans should dig in their heels and block any and all Supreme Court nominees put forth by a future President Hillary Clinton.

 

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, RoseWilder said:

After reading this article, I certainly hope this is the end of the Republican party: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/supreme-court-hillary-clinton-nominees_us_580fed9ae4b08582f88cb00c

 

Maybe if they wait long enough, all of our Supreme Justices will die. 

[Howl]

10 hours ago, RoseWilder said:

Some conservatives certainly seem to be warming up to McCain’s controversial suggestion last week that Senate Republicans should dig in their heels and block any and all Supreme Court nominees put forth by a future President Hillary Clinton.

There is certainly the possibility that this will backfire and in a big way.  There are many thoughtful conservatives who know this is wrong, wrong, wrong, as should any thoughtful person with a damn pulse.   With this Trump debacle, thoughtful conservatives are assessing what the hell happened to their party.  Actually, they've been wondering that since the Tea Party showed up.  

It appears that the Republican leadership are trying to get their collective feet out of their mouths so they can be ready to step on their own dicks at a moment's notice.  And coming from McCain?  This surprises me --I had the impression that he was a moderate centrist in his party.  

That said, I've seen way, WAY too many people on FB who should know better saying they are voting for Trump.  One person said he is voting for Trump because, after thinking about it a lot,  he thinks maybe things can change more with a weak president.  !!!???!!! 

Also, I'm going a little tin hat here, but the latest in the news is the cost of health insurance premiums going up, up, up with Obamacare.  Could this be an industry wide artificial nudge to get people to vote against Hillary?  

Jeeze, Nov. 8th can't get here soon enough. 

 

 

 

 

[zygote373]

Not sure where to put this, but my twitter feed amused me last night.  Also, kudos to whoever runs the FJ twitter account because the tweets have been excellent in the run up to this election.

I can only hope the party of no actually gets a stomping in this election.

[AmazonGrace]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/richard-burr-supreme-court_us_5818db21e4b0390e69d2d9b7
 

Quote

 

GOP Senators No Longer Want The People To Decide On Supreme Court Justices

That Merrick Garland talking point is now obsolete

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) made a noteworthy declaration about his post-election political intents on Monday, though it was lost amid his joke, for which he has since apologized, about shooting Hillary Clinton.

Should he head back to the Senate, Burr pledged, he would try to block any Supreme Court nomination from a President Clinton.

“If Hillary Clinton becomes president, I am going to do everything I can do to make sure four years from now, we still got an opening on the Supreme Court,” he said.

This is how constitutional crises are made.

 

 

And when all the Supreme Court judges die away, what then?
 

Quote

 

Note the specific wording of the statement, which is still on Burr’s website. He wasn’t arguing that voters deserved “a voice” in choosing the next president, who would nominate a Supreme Court justice, and the next Senate, which would advise and consent on that nominee. He spoke strictly about allowing voter input in the nomination. More than seven months later, Burr is now throwing that argument out the window, pledging to block a nomination if the “American people” choose a president he opposes.

Burr isn’t the only senator who has abandoned the March dictum of letting the voters decide. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also recently pledged to block any Supreme Court nominee proposed by Clinton. And his press release from when Garland was nominated was even more explicit in saying that the next president, specifically, should get a say.